CARDIFF BLUES 21, CONNACHT 9
It was probably a bit much to expect Connacht to do what they had never done before and not only beat Cardiff Blues for the first time in the Welsh capital, but also to do the double over them.
Their 18-13 triumph over last season’s EDF Energy Cup winners and Heineken Cup semi-finalists Magners League was the second of three defeats the Blues had suffered in the Magners League against Irish opposition and Connacht skipper John Muldoon was looking for a repeat victory with which to celebrate his 100th league game.
The fact that a win would have carried them above the lacklustre Blues in the table was another strong motivating factor, although that was probably in the heads of the Welsh side as well.
But the fact the Blues coach Dai Young had given permission to three of his British & Irish Lions players, Jamie Roberts, Andy Powell and Leigh Halfpenny, to turn out for the Barbarians against New Zealand the day before also offered an extra glimmer of hope to the visitors.
The absence of Roberts allowed the home side to parade their latest New Zealand signing, the twice capped centre Casey Laulala for the first time, but he got short change from Niva Ta’auso in the Connacht midfield.
The early exchanges were with the boot as home full back Ben Blair knocked over two penalties to Ian Keatley’s one for the visitors. That left the game pretty evenly balanced at the end of the first quarter before Wales wing Tom James took centre stage.
His two tries in the space of seven minutes just before half-time completed tipped the scales in the Blues’ favour and allowed them to go into the break 15 points clear. The first came as a result of quick ruck ball, and great timing of his run by the winger, and the second was an overlap run in. Connacht introduced Michael Swift for the second half allowing him to match Muldoon’s milestone of making 100 Magners League appearances and at the same time he also equaled Eric Elwood’s record of 161 games for the province.
The second half saw Connacht enjoy plenty of territory and possession, yet fail to find any flaws in the home defence. Keatley landed two more penalties, Blair added another for the Blues and the 7,105 fans were probably happy to hear the sound of the final whistle.
The Blues at least climbed out of the bottom two at last, but there seems little or no prospect of either of these two teams climbing into the vital top four places for a Play-Off place at the end of the season if they continue to play in a similar vein. Scorers: Blues: tries: T James 2; Con: B Blair; Pens: B Blair 3. Connacht : Pens : I Keatley 3.
Cardiff Blues: B Blair; R Mustoe, C Laulala, T Shanklin, T James; S Norton-Knight (C Sweeney 70), G Cooper (R Rees 64); G Jenkins (G Powell 76), TR Thomas, T Filise, D Jones, P Tito (capt), S Warburton (A Pretorius 64), M Williams, X Rush. Connacht: G Duffy; L Bibo, N Ta’auso, A Wynne, F Carr; I Keatley, F Murphy (C O’Loghlin 72); B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris, M McCarthy (M McComish 64-78), B Upton, J Muldoon (capt), J O’Connor (R Ofisa 41), M McComish (M Swift 41).
